Chapter 2 - The Wicked Stepmother
The cinematic silence in the grand living room was absolutely paralyzing.
Dominic’s breath hitched in his throat. His dark eyes widened in sheer, agonizing horror. He stared at his tiny daughter in the pink floral dress, desperately trying to process the catastrophic weight of her words.
Fourteen months ago, his beautiful wife, Isabella, had tragically fallen to her death from the third-floor balcony of this very estate. The police, the private investigators, and his own cartel enforcers had all ruled it a devastating accident. Lucia had been in the nursery that night. She had completely stopped speaking ever since.
"Lucia... what did you just say?" Dominic choked out, his hands trembling as he gently held his daughter's small shoulders.
Before the little girl could answer, the sharp, aggressive clicking of designer heels echoed from the hallway.
Stepping into the bright living room was Victoria. She was Dominic’s new fiancée, a wealthy, arrogant socialite draped in a blood-red silk dress and expensive diamonds. Her perfectly contoured face was twisted in fake, exaggerated concern, but her eyes darted nervously toward the little girl.
"Dominic, darling, don't listen to her!" Victoria rushed forward, desperately trying to pull Lucia away from her father. "The child is clearly hallucinating! She is deeply disturbed!"
Dominic didn't let go of Lucia. He smoothly shifted his broad shoulders, physically blocking Victoria from touching his daughter.
"Don't interrupt," Dominic warned, his voice dropping into a lethal, freezing register.
Victoria’s jaw locked. She pointed a vicious, manicured finger at the young maid still kneeling on the marble floor.
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"This is exactly why I told you to fire that peasant!" Victoria shrieked aggressively. "I caught the maid stealing my diamond tennis bracelet this morning! And now she is actively brainwashing your traumatized child to hate you! Have your guards throw her in the street!"
👉 Victoria thought she had perfectly framed the innocent maid, but the young woman was about to reveal a secret that would stop the boss's heart.
